


it was easier with you

by lilibughead



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Betty and Veronica are besties, Betty and jughead are broken up, F/M, Jughead Jones is Not Asexual, Jughead is bi, M/M, Slow Burn, Veronica is also bi, Veronica lodge loves Cheryl blossom, eventual bughead, jughead jones loves hooking up with people, kevin will come up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-16 15:24:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14167845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilibughead/pseuds/lilibughead
Summary: Jughead and Betty have been broken up since senior year of high school. They decided that their relationship was hurting both of them, so they mutually separated. Betty goes to college and is working to get in to law school. Jughead isn't doing as well as she is to say the least.





	1. what happened

 

Betty sighs, wondering why the hell she’s sitting and listening to some trashy remix of a pop song. She’s in a loud nightclub, and she doesn’t know why she even agreed to this stupid vacation she was dragged on in the first place. She let her best friend, Veronica Lodge, drag her back to Riverdale for the weekend, insisting she was “too focused on school” and “needed to get relax and party it up”. She was in college, working her way towards law school and was constantly wrapped up in her studies, but somehow, Veronica, who she kept in contact with, although they lived states apart, had convinced her to take a short trip back to their hometown with her and say hi to old friends and unplug. Their first stop in Riverdale was a trashy nightclub on the Southside of town that Veronica found on yelp. Said raven haired friend had left her side halfway through the night and found some random hottie to dance with so Betty was left alone at the bar, willing the night to be over.

“Betty!” She jumps as a man around the same age as her, walks over to her and takes a seat next to her. She recognizes him as an old friend from her days in high school. “Trev! Nice to see you. What have you been up to”. “Oh, you know,-“ he starts before a crash comes from the other side of the room. She looks towards where the noise came from to see the one thing she never would have expected- Jughead Jones fallen over on the floor, making out with Archie Andrews.

Veronica notices the commotion and walked over to them, glaring. “Can you guys please get a room” she fumes. She then walks over to Betty, whose mouth was wide open. Veronica glances at her facial expressionsand sees how shocked she is, realizing she hasn’t seen or heard from her ex boyfriend since senior year.. “Wait, B, did you not know? Jughead never left Riverdale. And he’s kind of dating Archie.” Betty doesn’t respond. She just slips out of the room, getting dizzier by the second.

Why wasn’t he in college? Thoughts run through her mind as she steps outside into the cool air. Veronica chases after her. Betty turns around as Veronica approaches her. “Why didn’t you tell me, V? Why isn’t he in college? What is he doing in Riverdale. What the hell happened?”

“Betty, we should sit down. I promise I’ll tell you everything. It just never seemed like the right time to tell you.” The girls sit down on the floor outside the club. “I mean look at you B. You’re doing so well, you moved out of your parents house and are in your dream school. You recovered from the breakup. It pains me to say but Jughead didn’t.” Betty cringes, a tear threatening to fall down her cheek. Veronica continues. “He just couldn’t get over it. You really made a mark on him. He fell down a dark hole after you left for college. He started hooking up with boys and girls alike. He picked up smoking, and he stayed in the serpents. His dad is still in jail so he’s just been alone until Archie came back into town. They hit it off I guess.”

Betty starts crying. She doesn’t know why she’s so upset. I mean, it’s been years. She thought she was over him. The breakup was mutual because their relationship was a mess, but when she really thought about it, she missed him. She missed their late night calls, scheming about how to solve the newest mystery in town. She missed cuddling up in his trailer and watching crappy murder documentaries. She missed the way he smiled and how he always cared for her, no matter how messed up things were. Betty Cooper was not over Jughead Jones.

Betty Cooper was not over Jughead Jones.


	2. what now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead hears that Betty is in town. What will happen? Meanwhile, Betty sorts out her emotions.

Betty gets into her rental car with Veronica by her side and starts to drive home. She thinks about Jughead and Jughead only. How messed up everything was. How the black hood was ruining people’s lives. How his dad was still in prison for the cover up of Jason Blossom’s murder. How hard it was to be in a relationship with everything going on. They kept fighting and separating and it was horrible and grueling. So they ended it. What else could they do. After that, the chaos continued, but they thought that being separated was better in the long run, so they dealt with everything alone. She didn’t want to be reminded of him so she cut him out completely. He was devastated of course. How could she be so dumb. She couldn’t just leave him behind completely. She starts sobbing and almost swerves off the road.  
“B, maybe I should drive. Just get some rest okay?” Veronica says, concerned about her sobbing best friend. They switch seats and Betty sleeps the rest of the way to the hotel, and she dreams of Jughead 

-

Jughead wakes up in the morning, sore from the night at the bar. He looks guiltily over at his sleeping boyfriend and rolls out of bed, wincing as he stands up. He must’ve done something stupid last night. He walks over to the kitchen and pours a bull of cereal. He thinks of how he doesn’t enjoy making out with Archie anymore. He thinks of his dad, stuck in jail. He thinks of how he doesn’t have a job and is living off of Archie’s money. Then he thinks of Betty, and then he tries not to think of Betty, but then he thinks of Betty anyways. He thinks of how much he misses her blond hair and bright smile. He thinks of how he wishes he could wake up next to her instead of Archie. He thinks of how she’s far away and doing amazing things without him. He thinks about how stupid his life is. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He’s dating Archie Andrews of all people. He was a last resort and he figured it was better than being alone. He’s not happy, not at all. He doesn’t have a father or a job. All he has is the serpents and his boyfriend that he doesn’t like. He pulls out a cigeratte and carefully lights it. He sighs and smokes for a few minutes before he hears his phone ding. He picks it up and groans as he sees Veronica’s name flash on the screen. They were never close and he wonders what she wants. He slides across the screen and sees the last thing he would’ve ever expected. Betty’s back in town, it’s time to make things right. Shit.

-

Betty wakes up peacefully, not remembering at first. Then it hits her. She’s in the same town as her ex that she’s still in love with who’s slowly falling apart. She doesn’t know what to do. She quickly calls up one of the only people that could help her in this situation. “Hey, Kev, um…” then she breaks into tears. “I..I ran into Jughead. I think I’m still in love with him.” Kevin sighs and finally says “God damn it. Like, love love? I thought you were over his ass. Your guys’ relationship was a mess.” She shakily responds “Kev, he’s falling apart. And I had no idea. He’s been sleeping around and trying to distract from missing me. I’m such a bad person, I just cut him out.” “No, honey, you didn’t do anything wrong. You did what was best. But now that you know about everything, maybe reconnect with him? Maybe you can help him get back on his feet, if you’re as in love with him as you say you are.” Kevin replies. “I’ll try Kevin. Thanks for your help,” she says gratefully. He quickly says goodbye and they hang up.  
Next step, talk to Jughead. 

-

Fuck. Fuck. Betty’s in town. Jughead paces up and down the hall of Archies apartment cursing quietly. She must hate him, right? I mean she cut me out, blocked my number. He still doesn’t know why she hates him so much. He just wishes he knew what went wrong. Their relationship was shit but he didn’t want to lose her completely. He completely fell apart when she was gone. What would happen now that she was back. Would they talk? Would they be friends? He thinks of the possibilities as Archie walks through the door. “Hey babe” he says drowsily and walks over to give him a quick peck. “Hey Arch. I, um, I have to go. I’ll be back later,” he says quickly and then he’s out the door. He doesn’t know where he’s going but he has to do something. He texts Veronica. Does she want to see me? He waits impatiently for her response and when he hears the ding he almost falls over. I think so. And then the past few years of pain break out. He starts sobbing in the lobby of the apartment. Betty Cooper. How is he supposed to face Betty Cooper, the girl that broke his heart in two, the girl he was hopelessly in love with. The girl that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get over.


	3. my world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what happens when they finally meet up. will he forgive her?

Betty lets down her hair from her signature ponytail and walks out the door. She texts V telling her that she’s going to make things right with Jughead, and heads to the car. She pulls out her phone and unblocks his number. She hesitates before she types out a simple I’m in town. Meet at Pop’s. She stares at her phone waiting for a response. Sure enough in a couple of minutes her phone dings and she gets a simple Sure from Jughead. She shuts her eyes tight and mentally prepares for what’s about to happen. She can’t just expect him to forgive her, right? I mean the breakup was mutual but she was the one who cut him out. The one who turned him into a smoking depressed guy that slept around. She just hopes that she can make him okay again.

-

When he gets that text from Betty he nearly shits himself. Fuck fuck fuck. What would they talk about. Would he forgive her? Of course he would forgive her. What would happen? Would she explain herself? He hops in his car as he thinks things over. He drives to the familiar restaurant, Pop’s and sits in the car for a little, trying to catch his breath.   
Then he sees her.  
Her hair is down and she’s wearing natural makeup. She looks absolutely gorgeous. She has an uncertain expression on her face that he wants to turn into a smile. He stumbles out of the car and awkwardly waves at her. She calmly walks over to him and gestures him inside. They take a seat at a booth and for a while they just stare. They think about everything that’s happened. The way everything has turned out.   
Betty was the first to speak. “Hey,” she practically whispers. “Hey Betts,” he replies. He cringes at the use of the nickname. It just slipped out. When he said that, she started to really remember what being with Jughead was like. She remembered the times he would call her that when she was upset and he was comforting her. How she cuddled into him and could finally feel at peace, no matter how bad things were. It was such a little thing but it brought back so much that she could feel tears threatening to fall down her cheeks.   
“Jug…I…,” she starts. “I miss you so much. You were everything to me. You were my moon, my sun, and my stars. My north south east and west. You gave me direction. You gave me purpose. You could light up my world like nobody else.” She sobs as she continues. “You were so there for me and when we were together it felt like nothing could get in the way because I was yours and you were mine. We were Betty and Jughead and damnit we were so perfect. I hate that word but there’s no other way to describe it. I love you Jughead. I have no idea why I’m saying this. It’s stupid and immature and there’s no way you would ever forgive me but I need you to know. I love you. I think I always will.”   
Jughead doesn’t know where that came from but that doesn’t stop his face from lighting up in the first real smile in years. A tear drops down his cheek and he whispers, “How could you possibly think I wouldn’t forgive you. You really think I would give up on us. I spent every day for the last 4 years hoping and dreaming for you to come back to me. You were my home. You’ll always be my home. My safe place. My world.”  
And then they kiss. And it’s perfect.


End file.
